Vendor Spotlight & GIVEAWAY: Faber-Castell Color Gelatos

After playing with Faber-Castell’s Color Gelatos and Clear Stamp kits, I had trouble finding something they couldn’t do. Seriously, I was able to put aside most of my other coloring tools and use just these juicy sticks of color for my papercrafting projects.

Of course, some of the techniques (painting, spraying) require some manipulation, all of which I could do with just a few supplies I already had on hand.

Faber-Castell describes the Gelatos as “acid-free pigment sticks that glide on creamy smooth for vibrant color and coverage.” I just call them yummy. You can blend them with water for a water color effect, apply them directily to stamps or use them to color chipboard and other embellishments.

They are packaged in a lip balm-like container that you twist from the bottom to reveal more Gelato. It’s a fitting package, since their consistency reminds me a lot of lipstick.

Each set comes with four color Gelato sticks in coordinating colors (red/yellow, blue/green, neutrals and metallics), a clear stamp and a matching paint brush. Two-pack sets, with no brush or stamp, are available in black and white and gold and silver.

I love that the paintbrush color coordinates, and love even more that it’s triangular so it doesn’t slip slide its way off my craft table.

I think this is awesome way for scrapbookers/papercrafters to try out some artsy techniques without investing too much money or buying too many products. You can pick up a pack or two (for most likely under $15) and try out the products before committing to more.

I used to walk down the art aisles in Hobby Lobby and stare at all the colorful tubes and tubs of paint. But the prices were too high and I was too intimidated to buy something that I wasn’t sure I knew how to use. This line of Faber-Castell products erases those fears, and makes art so much more approachable for me.

Plus, the Design Memory Craft products are part of the Mix & Match color system. Each package is marked with a color dot so no matter what medium you choose, you can be sure they will match. For example, you can pick up a pack of blue/green Gelatos and know they will coordinate with the PITT pens or watercolor pencils in the same color family.

The Gelatos themselves can work on a ton of different surfaces including paper (heavier is better for wet techniques), chipboard, canvas, textured embellishments and dark paper.

And did I mention all kinds of techniques are possible such as applying color directly to stamps and then misting with water; blending on a surface with water for a nice color wash; blending colors with your finger or blending stump; shaving color off the gelato and mixing it with a medium to create a custom paint; or mixing it with water to create a mist. If you need any more ideas, check out the Design Memory Craft blog for some awesome projects.

For my first project, I wanted to blend the Gelatos with water; I chose a heavy manila tag as my substrate. Heavier paper like this tag or watercolor paper is best if you’re going to use a lot of water, since the water can warp thinner paper.

I colored with the Gelatos like you would with a crayon, then used the included brush to blend the colors together. In my first attempt, I was haphazard with my coloring. On paper, I found it was hard to completely blend away my coloring lines. For my second attempt, I was much neater with my coloring.

They blended smoothly with the water and each other, making this awesome background.

Next, I wanted to add a sun to my tag. Again, I colored with the gelatos, this time just in the corner of my tag. I wanted the color to be stronger, so I decided to blend with a Fantastix instead of water.

Even without water, the gelato blended so smoothly. I was even able to pull some color down to make rays of light coming from my sun.

Faber-Castell really emphasized the Gelatos ability to color textured embellishments. I pulled out some flocked letters and gave it a try. Here they are all white and boring.

And here they are all pretty and red. The Gelato glided smoothly, even on the flocked surface. It was tricky to get to the sides of the letters because they are slightly raised. I solved that by using my handy Fantastix to get down the sides and all the nooks and crannies. Worked perfectly. Plus, my letters still had their fuzzy texture even after coloring.

Here’s my finished tag. Peeking out from under my letters is one of the clear stamps included in the kit. While I think the quality of the stamps is good, I do think the designs are too small to color with the gelatos, if you want more than one color. I found the stamps worked best if I colored them with one color of gelato or just used an ink pad.

Next up, using the directions from the Design Memory Craft blog, I set out to make my own paint using the gelatos.

First I shaved a bit off the top.

I sprayed some water on the shavings and mixed them up.

Next, I added some Lumiere so my final paint would have some shimmer and shine.

Here it is ready to go. I used it to paint some old Cosmo Cricket Blackboard (black chipboard) that I’ve had for awhile.

I love how this turned out. I think I have finally found a way to use up this blackboard.

I needed some more embellishments for the page I had in mind. This time, I tried the Gelatos on some textured grungeboard. The creamy nature of the Gelatos let it slide right onto the grungeboard. I used my Fantastix again to work it into all the crevices. Here is is before I blended.

And here it is after. I took a yellow Gelato and gently rubbed it over the surface so that it would highlight the texture. Super yummy.

I made several more numbers in different color combinations. I added some Glossy Accents to the numbers so they would match my shiny rocket ship. Here they are on my layout.

And here’s the finished layout with my numbers and my rocket ship.

With all that experimenting behind me, I was ready to get in touch with my inner frustrated artist. I decided to try making a layout using just the Gelatos and my photos.

I laid down some blue Gelato, starting in one corner and working my way down.

I blended the Gelato with water and a paintbrush to get this watercolor-like background. I didn’t have trouble blending away my lines on the canvas like I did on paper.

Next, I took a polka dot background stamp from Stampin’ Up and inked it with the darker blue Gelato.

I spritzed my stamp with some water.

And used it to add some texture to one side of my canvas. I didn’t need to re-Gelato my stamp every time, and I also didn’t have to spritz every time. My canvas was still a little damp from my first color wash, so not much additional water was needed.

I wanted some bolder circles, so following the same steps for making the paint above, I mixed some Gelato shavings with gesso this time. I laid down a mask and painted over it with my Gelato-tinted gesso. You can also mix the Gelatos with gel medium or even regular white acrylic paint.

For my last step, I mixed Gelato shavings with just water and added it to a Mini Mister. I used a Crafter’s Workshop template as a mask and added some circles.

It’s a subtle look, but I like the touch of contrast that it brings.

I pulled out the clear stamp again from the Gelato kit, added some red Gelato and used it around my title and on the edge of my photo. Again, I found it easier to use just one color of Gelato on this more detailed stamp. The tip of the Gelato is large enough that it is hard to detail color a stamp.

Here’s my final “artsy” Gelato-only layout. I used negative pieces of chipboard to paint some of my title and letter stamps for the rest. I’m pretty pleased with my first artsy attempt, and loved trying out so many different techniques with the Gelatos.

Last, I wanted to try some more direct stamping with the Gelatos. I tried two different methods — coloring the stamps and then misting and spraying down a piece of water color paper, and then stamping.

I used this bold stamp, which made it easier to use two different colors of Gelato.

In the photos below, the watercolor paper is on the right. The Gelatos blended and ran more with my spray-the-paper technique, but I like the look of both.

I used the image on the left to create this card.

Whew! I had tons of fun giving these Gelatos a work out. As much as I used them, I still have plenty of color left in my tubes. A little certainly goes a long way.

The Gelatos not only work on many surfaces, they also are very flexible in terms of techniques. They are a worthwhile addition to any coloring stash.

GIVEAWAYThe cool folks over at Faber-Castell are giving a set of cool Mixed Media colors to one lucky reader! Just leave a comment on either of the Faber-Castell reviews today answering the question in the Comments section of either article to be entered to win!Have you tried the Color Gelatos? What is/would be your favorite way to use them?One comment per person, per article, please. Winner will be selected on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

I’ve been dying to try the Gelatos. I can’t believe all the things they can do. i would use them in my art journal and atcs. I love the watercolor look you can achieve with them. And how about stamping with them, what fun!

I haven’t tried them yet. They really do appear to be versatile. Love how you used them on the chipboard pieces and the different ways you used them on the canvas background, as a wash, stamping, spraying. It looks fabulous!

I haven’t tried these yet, but would love to win and get to try them out! My favorite way to use them? Probably with mists in a watercolor effect, but I’d love to try several techniques out and see how they are!

I used these at Inspired … and all I can say is WOW! I love them! I use paints a lot in my art journaling and these would be soooo incredibly awesome to have! Creamy, smooth, blend-able … love them! and the shine in the metallics? To DIE for!

That’s one thing I love about this blog. I find all kinds of new things. I’ve never seen Gelatos before but they do definitely look yummy. I would definitely use them with stamping and watercolor to make cards.

This new product caught my eye the first time I saw the ad in Creating Keepsakes! I haven’t seen them in the stores yet, though! I am so happy that you did this review/tutorial….they look like so much fun! I will definitely want to give them a try on my scrap pages and all the naked chipboard I have, as well as for stamping!

I have not tried the Gelatos yet, but sure would like to try them. They look like they would be fun to use. I think I would like to try all sorts of backgrounds, and stamping looks like it would be fun, too.

I’va never tried the gelatos because I dod not know them ! lol I love all the possibilities they offer, and the idea of making backgrounds on paper is very interested ! I would love to try some painting techniques such as you did with mist sprays ! Thank you for this review, I think I would give a try to this product one day !

I have not tried the Gelato’s, but I can not wait to find them at the craft store or win them here. These look so awesome, I love the layout that you did with all the circles….Thanks for bringing these to my attention….

I have seen these but never realized how versatile they are! I have not tried them, but I liked when you shaved the Gelato & mixed it with the Luminaire, great way to mix your own colors! Thanks for the chance to win & for all of the Great tips!debpaint16@aol.com

It’s pretty obvious that I have been living in a cave! I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing these yet. Thanks for the heads up! I don’t know exactly what I would make or how I would use them…decisions, decisions! You have given me so many starting points and ideas! I do know that I could play with these all day and still not run out of options! *WOW*

i haven’t tried gelatos yet. they are on my wish list. have heard so many good things about them. i would like to use them in card making, for both backgrounds and stamping. also am starting an art journal and am sure they would work great for that too.

Lately I’ve been seeing these Gelatos pop up in lots of people’s projects. Looks like lots of fun. Thanks for the great review. I would use them on all sorts of stamping/cardmaking/scrapbooking projects!

WOW these sound great!! I have not tried the Faber-Castell Color Gelatos but it is on my list — my scrapbooking group is going to Chantilly, VA later this month for a scrapbook meet and I am hoping one of the vendors will have the them!!!

ok,I have a confession to make, I found these gelatos at Aaron Bros a few weeks ago…and they were so CUTE and COLORFUL(read=impulse buy)…so in the cart they went.They went from the cart to my craft table where they’ve been staring me at the face SINCE cuz I didn’t KNOW WHAT TO DO W/THEM!!!UNTIL NOW…..thanks so much for the post…I’m gonna go home and unwrap those puppies and give it a go. Maybe your giveaway will be the colors I dont have….Thanks for the chance to win….even more important…thanks for the tutorial, how timely!!

Hmmmm, these look very interesting. And more portable than some of the other paints I’ve tried. This is the first I’ve heard of them, so obviously haven’t tried them. I’d use them with my pen and ink, probably using the paintbrush

This is the first I’ve heard of Gelatos although I use Pitt artist pens. I would love to use them not only in my art journal but also making cards. The critique is an inspiration for the many creative ways in which to use Gelatos. Maybe I’ll win!

I haven’t tried nor have I even heard of the Gelato’s until now, but I certainly am going to look for Design Memory Craft products! I would love to try water coloring with them and also using them on chipboard.

Wow! The vivid colors are amazing!!I never heard of Gelato Colors until reading your review. I definitely will be using these to paint stamped images. The vivid colors blended with luminere will add a new rich dimension to my stamped cards.

I did receive one of the gelatos in a goodie bag once and love the creamy consistency. I have used them on stamps and direct to paper. I would love the opportunity to win the mixed media set. Thank you.

I have many of the Faber Castell products and I love working with them. The quality is tremendous and I have always been surprised with the little tricks you can do to get special effects. It would be super to try out the gelato line to work on my Zentangles with.

the more I see these the more I want them. I so wish one of my local stores had them! They look awesome for not only stamping but also art journaling and mixed media art…my favorite things in the world. Thanks for the review and the chance to win.

Gelatos are awesome! I haven’t tried all the techniques yet. I love the juicy laydown of colour which I then blend together with a just wet brush, I then lightly mod podge before taking a stamp and pressing into the surface which lifts the colour off a bit for added texture. Finally I like to gold shimmer mod podge over the red, orange and yellow! These are artfully delicious!

I work for JoAnn Fabric and they sell the saaame things in the kids art area. They’re by Faber-Castell, but their marketed towards kids as Gel Sticks. They’re only $9.99 for a pack of 12 or $5.99 for the pack of metallic colors. Great deal and awesome product! I used a coupon on mine, and got them at an even better price 🙂